A Monash University legal expert on nuclear deterrence, disarmament and non-proliferation is able to comment on why the AUKUS Alliance is a contravention of the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons.
Dr Monique Cormier, Senior Lecturer, Monash University Law
Contact: +61 3 9903 4840 or media@monash.edu
Read more of Dr Cormier’s work at Monash Lens
The following can be attributable to Dr Cormier:
“Australia is forging ahead with the AUKUS alliance and the controversial plan to allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. This would make Australia the first non-nuclear-weapon state to have nuclear propulsion technology and the first to take advantage of a loophole in the international verification regime that will allow Australia to withdraw weapons-grade uranium from the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguard system.
“Australia has also embraced US extended nuclear deterrence by committing to allow the US to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 aircraft to the Northern Territory, which is also clearly prohibited under the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
“Simply accepting the US policy of neither confirming nor denying whether these aircraft will be armed with nuclear weapons amounts to wilful blindness and would not be acceptable under the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
“Ending Australia’s defence policy of extended nuclear deterrence would be a bold move that would demonstrate Australia’s self-reliance and leadership in the region and among other nuclear umbrella states.”
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